


man overboard

by tootsonnewts



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cruise Ship, M/M, and also a terrible drink, caribbean vacation, otabek works for the cruise line, there's an animal costume involved, they're both pretty smart but pretty stupid, this is A Thing(tm), yuri is on summer vacation with the fam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 13:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12212616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tootsonnewts/pseuds/tootsonnewts
Summary: The strangest thing about boarding a cruise ship, in Yuri’s opinion, is the fact that they want you to stop and take a picture with a life ring before you even get on. Yeah, sure, it’s a souvenir or memory or whatever, but it’s also a strange sort of omen. It’s almost like the cruise line is implying Hey buddy, see this? Get real familiar and take this picture with you so you can identify the thing you’ll need WHEN THE SHIP SINKS.or, yuri and otabek meet on a summer cruise and things quickly go downhill from there.





	man overboard

**Author's Note:**

  * For [copperwings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/copperwings/gifts).



> recently, i did a fic giveaway on tumblr, and sadie was one of the winners!
> 
> she requested the following:
> 
> “Caribbean cruise; one of them goes on a two-week cruise on the Caribbean and the other works on the cruise ship as the mascot that’s there to entertain kids. You know, ridiculous bobble-head outfit and all that jazz. Now I just imagine the big bobble-head mascot stalking the other in the costume, like peeking from around the corner at the cute passenger”
> 
> i proceeded to write a MONSTER. it’s chock-a-block full of fun references, though (easter eggs, my dudes!).
> 
> a quick note so you don’t have to google: larkspur = open heart, strong attachment, lightness
> 
> HUGE shoutout to [thoughtsappear](http://archiveofourown.org/users/thoughtsappear) for being my beta for this behemoth!!!

The strangest thing about boarding a cruise ship, in Yuri’s opinion, is the fact that they want you to stop and take a picture with a life ring before you even get on. Yeah, sure, it’s a souvenir or memory or whatever, but it’s also a strange sort of omen. It’s almost like the cruise line is implying _Hey buddy, see this? Get real familiar and take this picture with you so you can identify the thing you’ll need WHEN THE SHIP SINKS._

Naturally, Viktor is delighted and demands that he get in the photo with Yuuri and their daughter. Yuri loves his cousin and his cousin’s husband. He adores Natalia almost as much as he thinks he’d adore his own child (she calls him uncle, he calls her niece, and it’s delightful). Sometimes, however, it’s a little much. He knew this vacation wasn’t just for him. Even though the entire family decided this would be the perfect time, one last hoorah before little Yuri goes off to college (Mila delighted in crowing it into his ear when the trip was decided), it was still a rare chance for everyone to be together for some quality time. Time they could spend forgetting about stress, and just focusing on each other for a change. This in mind, Yuri grits his way through a cheesy smile and immediately relaxes as soon as Mila throws her arm through his and drags him up the ramp to the ship.

“Come now, my little Yuratchka! We need to get some sun on those pale legs of yours!”

Yuri rolls his eyes, but his mouth betrays him, lifting itself into a smirk.

He loves Mila. By blood she’s his cousin, but if he were to have any siblings, she would be it. They grew up together, took dance classes together, worked through first dates and first heartbreaks with each other. You name it, they’ve been through it. Because he loves her so much and is so close with her, he can see right through her bullshit. She doesn’t care about getting sun on his legs. She knows he burns if he even so much as _thinks_ of the sun for too long. She just wants an excuse to deposit her bikini-clad body next to the pool as quickly as humanly possible. As it is, Yuri is usually her excuse to do things she actually wants to do for herself. He doesn’t mind, really. He’s been a little bit worried about missing her when he leaves, so a full two weeks with her will be nice no matter where they spend it, as far as he’s concerned. Still, they’re on vacation and he’d like to not spend it rushing around.

“Alright, Baba, let’s just get to our room first, maybe? I need a shower after that long-ass flight.”

Another strange thing to Yuri about cruises is the fact that you have to travel before you can travel. They had a thirteen hour set of flights followed by a three hour car trip to get to their port where they’ll be boarding a ship to take them somewhere else. It doesn’t make much sense to him. He’s already pretty exhausted, and it’s just the start of his vacation.

The entire walk to their block of rooms is spent with endless chattering surrounding him. His grandfather wants to make dinner plans right away before everyone scatters to the corners of the ship, his aunt wants to make reservations at the spa for massages with all the kids next week, Natalia leaps into his arms and demands to go play in a ball pit she’s already managed to hear about, and he’s fairly certain he hears his uncle mutter something about being “shitfaced and passed out on a beach already.” Yuri breathes a sigh of relief once Mila throws open the door to their room and immediately tosses himself face-down on the bed.

“Take a shower and a nap, Yura. You look like death warmed over.”

“Oh, Mila. You always know _just_ what to say to make a girl feel loved.”

Yuri laughs into the bedspread as a pillow connects with the back of his head.

After a shower and snooze, Yuri heads off to Viktor and Yuuri’s room to collect Natalia for a quick trip to the ball pit she was dying over before they go to dinner. When they arrive to the children’s deck, there are (very curiously) few children in the ball pit. Natalia launches her tiny body into the multicolored orbs just as Yuri looks up at the reason why. There’s a vaguely familiar bear mascot in the corner absolutely dripping with shouting children. If a mascot costume could look desperate, Yuri imagines that this one does.

The bear’s head shifts up and they make eye contact (is it really eye contact if one set is googly?) briefly before Natalia shouts Yuri’s name and he returns his attention to his favorite little girl. Laughing, he hops down into the balls and tosses her up onto his shoulders.

“Alright, kiddo. You ready to go get some food?”

“FIVE MORE MINUTES.”

Yuri is defenseless when she plays the puppy dog eyes, so he smiles and agrees. They spend another bit of time giggling and tossing balls at each other before he scoops her up once more.

“Okay, okay, it really is time for dinner now.”

They set off to the dining room together, and after a brief struggle to get through the other passengers, Yuri finally plops down in a seat next to Mila. Natalia bounds around the table and wraps herself around Yuuri’s neck, chattering on about their playroom experience, and Yuri leans back into his chair, boneless and exhausted.

“Baba. Remind me to never have one of those.”

“One of what?”

“Children.”

Mila laughs and pats his knee, “Ah, but Yura you’re so good with them.”

“Not with them,” he corrects, pointing across the table, “Just with her.”

“Which is whyyyy,” Viktor butts in, and Yuri feels himself being slowly tugged toward his doom. “Oh come on, Yura, don’t make that face. We just wanted to ask if you’d watch her tomorrow so we could have a day.”

Yuri groans into his dinner plate.

“Please, Yura, just one day! Then we won’t ask for your services anymore for the rest of the trip.”

Yuri glances up at Viktor through narrowed eyes. Viktor already looks smug, because he knows that Yuri’s just delaying the inevitable, but he allows them to go through the usual motions anyway. Yuri glances at Yuuri for confirmation.

“We promise,” Yuuri confirms, holding up both hands.

“…Fine.”

Viktor smiles. “Fantastic!”

Yuri climbs into bed that night with Natalia’s voice counting down a list of everything she wants to do the next day and prays to whichever deity will listen to finally allow him some rest.

 

+++

 

Check-in day is always stressful for Otabek. He likes to think he’s a pretty even-keeled guy, but there’s something about the initial rush of parents and children that always shakes him to the core and leaves him sweating in his costume. When he decided to sign this contract, he didn’t think it would be so stressful. He figured since he’d be dressed up the whole time he wouldn’t really have to deal with much, but the earth is the earth and her gods are vengeful beasts, so he spends two week stretches of time being mauled by her littlest monsters and cursing every moment.

He should have predicted his reaction, really. He’s never been known to show much interest in children, aside from the siblings and cousins he holds so dear. Hell, even JJ predicted it when Otabek told him about what he’d be doing for the summer ( _“So you mean to tell me that you’re going to spend a full three months floating in the middle of water **and** children? You’re my best friend and I love you, Becks, but you’re absolutely, one-hundred-percent gonna die.”_ ) Sighing, Otabek reminds himself that at least he just has this one trip left before he can go back to school. It’s really not too bad, either, considering how much he’s being paid for this.

He wipes his face and puts the head of his costume back on. Every time he double checks his buttons and zippers, he can’t help but be thrown back to when he sent JJ a picture of himself fully dressed at his orientation ( _“BECKS. BEKKY BOY. OTABEK. A bear?! Really?! Is this some kinda furry thing? ARE YOU ON A FURRY CRUISE, OTABEK.”_ ) The memory still makes him laugh every time he steps out of the dressing room.

He rounds the corner to the main deck to join the welcoming committee, and as he does, a quick movement from the corner of his eye catches his attention. He turns his bear-body (it’s really advantageous, he finds, when he wants to watch passengers without being noticed), and his eyes land on the most gorgeous blond guy he’s ever seen catching a small girl in his arms.

The family continues past him and her little voice rings bright over the crowd, “Uncle Yura, Uncle Yura they said there’s a BALL PIT. A BALL PIT, YURA! WE HAVE TO GO!”

Yura closes his eyes briefly, looking just as tired as Otabek’s soul feels, but when he reopens them all hints of fatigue are gone. “Of course, bumble bee. Just let me clean up first, yeah?”

His voice is level but sure, a nice tenor that Otabek thinks he could really get used to. The love laced through every word directed at the little girl sets a little buzz behind his spine, and it’s unusual…it’s been awhile since that’s happened.

The good thing about his costume is that it affords him anonymity. The good thing about his job is that he needs to go multiple places to entertain multiple children, and he’s given pretty free range to do just that. Otabek’s never been a very sneaky kind of guy, but he’s starting to think that maybe he could be, given the right reason. It seems to him that what the ball pit needs this evening is the presence of a good, good bear. Strike that, that sounds gross. Just a big ol’ bear. NOPE, WORSE. A bear buddy? Good enough. Otabek clicks his tongue at himself and heads off for the children’s deck.

It takes a couple excruciating hours for the blond to show up with his niece. Otabek is too busy being swamped by gremlins to make any moves closer, but he watches through the mesh screen in front of his face as Yura opens his arms and the girl rockets, head-first, into the ball pit. Even if nothing comes of it, Otabek thinks that perhaps he should warn him not to let her dive into a shallow pit full of plastic balls. That’s basic child-care. Maybe this Yura needs a class in basic child-care. _Otabek_ went through a class of basic child-care. He knows stuff. Things. He could teach Yura things.

A kid tugs at his bear-shirt, and his attention is drawn back down, but no sooner does he glance toward the floor than he feels the telltale prickles of someone watching him. He looks back up and makes eye contact with the guy. Is it really eye contact if one set is googly? He doesn’t know. What he does know is that Yura has the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen (he’s pretty certain, at least; the mesh kinda blurs things out a bit). There’s a comparison to the crystal waters of the Caribbean he could make, but that’d be weirdly on-brand for a cruise ship employee. Instead, he thinks of the larkspur his mother grows in her garden. They burst forth into different shades of blue and aqua each summer, and he thinks he can see different bits of those colors in Yura’s eyes. It reminds him of home. It reminds him of what he learned about flower languages when he was younger. He’s literally seen this guy twice. He reminds himself to chill.

The little girl calls for Yura, and Otabek’s stomach does a flip when he sees him flash a dazzling smile and throw her up on his shoulders. They leave a few minutes later, laughing and talking, and Otabek decides that he has to see that smile in person.

 

+++

 

The morning dawns bright and sparkling, with a powerful knee to the chest as Natalia drives herself into Yuri to wake him up for their day together. It’s peculiar that such a little girl would have so much force behind her, but then again, Yuri is often surprised by what Natalia is capable of when she has her mind focused on something.

“UNCLE YURI, I LET YOU SLEEP FOR A LONG TIME. You were drooling! It was gross.”

Mila snorts from the bathroom. Yuri rolls his eyes and sits up, sliding Natalia to his lap.

“Well, then I guess it’s time I stopped, huh?”

He receives twin _YES!_ -es and drags his body out of bed towards his toothbrush.

“Alright, Alright. Gimme ten minutes and we can go.”

Mila slaps him on the butt as he passes.

“Since I’m not doing anything else today, and I’m a kind and giving soul, I’m coming with you guys.”

“Oh, the joy. The blessings. Mila, my dearest love, how do I ever thank you,” Yuri deadpans.

Mila swoops him into a noogie, Natalia laughing and bouncing on the bed.

“You can start by being _grateful_ , you brat.”

“OH MILA, MY LIGHT AND SOUL,” he shouts from her armpit, “I AM SO BLESSED. YOUR LIGHT TOUCHES EVERY CORNER OF MY KINGDOM AND SHINES UPON ME WITH SUCH DELIBERATE GRACE. I AM BUT A MORTAL LAID BARE AT YOUR FEET. A SERVANT AWAITING YOUR MOST HIGH COMMAND. A PEASANT UPON WHOM-“

Mila interrupts him with an elbow to the ribs and Natalia collapses to the mattress in a fit of giggles.

“As long as you know your place, plebeian.”

Yuri throws on some clothes and brushes his teeth in record time, and they’re off to the activity room. They spend a little time coloring in pictures of the cruise line mascots, Natalia assigning them very specific characters.

“Uncle Yura, you get the bear since you talked to him yesterday.”

Mila perks up from the dolphin she was already working on. “Talked?”

Yuri closes his eyes. “I didn’t talk to the bear. We just kinda…looked at each other for a second? He looked tired.”

“A costume looked tired.”

“I said what I said.”

Mila gives him a look that says _well what you said is stupid_ and he sighs.

“I know it sounds stupid. But man, Mila if you had seen this thing. All covered in kids and slouching? Kinda? I dunno.”

She gives him The Look again and declares, “Okay, yeah, after this, you are definitely staying next to a pool with a drink in your hand.”

“Thanks, Baba. Good to know I’m losing my mind.”

Mila returns to her coloring with a bright, “Here for ya, babe!”

After coloring, Natalia decides she wants to play a game and drags them off to the arcade. They spend their afternoon in front of machines collecting tickets, and when it comes time to choose a prize, Natalia goes directly for a stuffed bear. Yuri’s soul leaves his body. Mila catches the moment it happens and bursts into overdramatic laughter.

“Well, Yura, we already know one person who’s coming to your wedding.”

Yuri huffs and drags them off to the children’s show. They walk into the theater to take their seats, but they’re just a little bit late and the pre-show entertainment has already started. The pre-show entertainment consisting of two of the characters on-stage leading the children through nursery songs. The pre-show entertainment containing a certain bear. Yuri is starting to get creeped out. He looked at the pamphlets before they left for the day. This ship has fourteen costumed characters. FOURTEEN. Why is he running into the same one over and over?

He puts the thought out of his mind as soon as Natalia starts laughing along with the show, and all is forgotten by the time he climbs into bed that night.

 

+++

 

Otabek is losing it. He’s convinced. The earth is the earth and her gods are vengeful beasts and he has done something to piss them off because he keeps seeing Yura everywhere.

First, he sees him as he’s walking toward the dressing room for his shift. Fortunately, he remembers just as he hides in a cleaning closet that Yura has no idea who he is, so he casually strolls right back out with a mop like he was _absolutely_ supposed to be there, and _no it isn’t weird_ that a random dude in regular clothes is just wandering around with a mop.

Then, because of course, Yura and a redhead bring the little girl to his show. Naturally. Because she’s a kid, and kids deserve entertainment, too. But this raises the question in his mind: who is the redhead? More family? A girlfriend? They seem very familiar and intimate with each other. There’s literally no reason for him to, but he kind of hopes it’s the former option.

When they end the show, it’s customary for the characters to go mingle in the crowd. Otabek hops down from the stage and as nonchalantly as a six-foot bear costume can manage, follows them out of the auditorium. When they turn corners, he peeks around them. When they stop, he stops and flings himself back around the wall. It’s extremely childish and extremely tiring and Otabek has no idea what in the world he’s doing with his life.

Eventually, they meet up with a silver-haired man and, presumably, his husband to hand off the little girl.

The silver-haired man is extremely loud.

“Well, you two enjoy your day at the pool tomorrow! Thank you so much again for letting us have a day!”

Okay. So technically, employees aren’t allowed to use the guest pools. And by technically, that means definitely. By definitely, that means if he’s caught, Otabek will _absolutely_ be fired. But tomorrow is his day off. Otabek likes swimming. Otabek likes pretty eyes. Otabek likes pretty eyes on pretty boys in swimsuits. He’ll take the risk.

 

+++

 

Yuri awakens at noon sharp feeling refreshed and totally relaxed, knowing that he doesn’t have to go anywhere or do anything besides settle himself next to a pool and get drunk with Mila. She must know how he’s feeling, because she rolls over in her bed and smirks at him in the way she does when she’s about to get them in trouble.

“What do you think ocean sex is like, Yura?”

“Wet, I would imagine.”

Mila grabs his wrist and tugs him to the floor.

“Thanks, smartass. Let’s go find some hot bodies to entertain us.”

Yuri smiles up at her.

“That’s all you needed to say, Baba.”

Twelve thirty finds them relaxing by the pool, fruity drinks in hand, sunglasses on their faces, and not a care in the world. They come to a lull in their conversation when a shadow falls over Yuri’s stomach.

“I’m sorry, is anyone sitting here? Everywhere else is taken.”

Yuri looks up into the eyes of an _extremely_ handsome stranger, and even though the line about the chairs is a total lie, he immediately accepts it without hesitation.

“No, go ahead.”

Yuri tries his best not to watch the guy sit down, but he’s just there, all golden skin and washboard abs and intense eyes and Yuri needs a drink. There’s a drink in his hand, but he needs another drink. Preferably, the kind that’s just a shot. He tries to think of the most sense-shocking thing he can imagine drinking. He decides, finally, and asks the waiter for two shots of tequila in a bunch of lime juice. The guy looks at him weird, of course he looks at him weird, but does as asked.

Yuri’s right, it is absolutely the grossest thing he’s ever done to himself. It’s just what he needed though, because the aftershocks that roll through his body are enough to jolt him back to awareness.

“Okay, I know my opinion doesn’t matter, but that looked disgusting,” the stranger’s voice floats to him through the cloud of poor decisions. Yuri looks at him and immediately feels like he needs another drink.

Instead, he clears his throat and goes for brutal honesty, “That was the worst fucking thing I’ve ever done to myself.”

The stranger laughs, showing perfect teeth, and Yuri can’t quite tell if it’s the alcohol or the sound, but he wouldn’t mind putting his fingers in that mouth and feeling around. Just rubbing his teeth and feeling his tongue and how do you think that mouth would look pulling a glove off his hand or something and _what the fuck, Plisetsky_.

He clears his throat again and looks at the ground, hoping he’s not as pink in the face as he feels. A hand appears under his nose.

“I’m Otabek.”

He looks back up at the beautiful face attached to the hand and smiles, reaching out.

“Yuri.”

Otabek smiles back and opens up a bottle of water.

“Yuri is a very nice name. It suits you.”

Okay. Alright. Yuri is incredible with math. It’s part of what he’s going to school for when he starts in the fall. He knows addition. He can put 2 and 2 right the fuck together. Apparently, so can Mila, because her elbow lands directly between his ribs as she leans around him, extending her hand like a queen upon her throne.

“Hi, there! I’m Mila, Yura’s cousin.”

Otabek takes the hand in the way expected of him, and kisses her knuckles, although his eyes don’t stray from Yuri’s face.

“A pleasure. Otabek.”

Mila snorts, “I’m gonna go somewhere else and pretend that I have a reason to do it so you two can keep flirting.”

She gathers up her bag, “I’ll see you at dinner, Yura.”

Yuri _knows_ he’s blushing now, but he still manages to squeak out, “See ya, Baba.”

Otabek laughs and takes a sip of his water.

 

+++

 

Otabek has gone beyond losing it and directly into Insanity Central. He’s broken at least five employee rules by now, and possibly a few of his own. He just can’t find it in him to care while he watches Yuri blush and bumble his way through an apology for his cousin (directed mainly at the floor).

“It’s okay. I like when people are direct. If it helps at all, I am. Flirting, I mean.”

Those eyes shoot up to meet his (larkspur comparison confirmed), and he blushes a little harder then clears his throat.

“Fine then,” Yuri replies with a steel glint in his eyes. “Let’s do this.”

It’s Otabek’s turn to blush, and he feels it creep down his collarbones in the worst way. Yuri follows the rush of heat with his eyes, and yeah okay, this may have been a Not Great idea. The flirting part is fine, fun even, but now he has to do all that and keep the fact that he’s an employee a secret. You can’t just flirt with the actual man of your dreams and then be like, ‘ _Oh by the way, I’m that bear you keep seeing, wuddup._ ’ Well, you could, but that would go terribly, he predicts.

So he does his best to play it cool.

“Alright, then, Yuri. Which do I call you? Yuri or Yura?”

“You can call me Yuri. Yura is for close family and friends.”

“Fair enough. Tell me about yourself. Why are you on this cruise?”

Yuri laughs, “Why is anyone on this cruise? I’m on vacation.”

Otabek remembers to keep his face neutral and just nod, “Of course. Vacation.”

Yuri quirks a brow at him, but lets it go.

“Alright, Otabek, tell me about yourself then.”

See, this is good. This is controllable. This is safe.

“Okay. I’m in college, going into my sophomore year. I’m studying literature right now. I’d like to teach.”

Yuri’s face softens a few degrees, and it’s a look Otabek could really get used to.

“That’s really nice. You want to teach college?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Professor Otabek,” Yuri teases. The title rolls off Yuri’s tongue and straight into Otabek’s core, kick-starting a flood of hormones he’d rather ignore. He shoves the heat blooming across his body to the side. For now.

“What about you?” he asks instead.

“Mmm, I’m headed to college in the fall actually. I’m an engineering major, though. I’d like to work in the alternative energy field.”

“Solar Scientist Yuri.”

Yuri’s chuckles, “Something like that.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking by the pool and time slips away from them faster than Otabek realizes before Yuri looks at his phone and stretches.

“Well, it’s been nice chatting, Professor, but I gotta get going. Am I gonna see you again?”

Even though he knew this was coming, Otabek finds it incredibly difficult to come up with something on the fly.

“I, uh, yeah! Of course. I’m on the ship too, right?” He hears himself erupt in slightly manic laughter and clenches his fist at his side. “I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”

Yuri looks at him in confusion for a second before he turns away.

“Alright, then, Otabek. I’ll see you around.”

Otabek watches him saunter off, blond hair swaying in the breeze, towel draped around slight but toned shoulders. His gaze travels further down and stays there until Yuri is out of sight.

He’s so fucked.

 

+++

 

“Sooooo,” Mila waggles her eyebrows over her menu. “How was your afternoon, Yura?”

All motion stops at the table.

Because fortune favors everyone but Yuri and the devil comes in silver, Viktor pipes up, “Your afternoon? I thought you two went to the pool together today?”

Mila cracks a wicked smile and Yuri groans.

“Oh, we _went_ together. But we didn’t _stay_ together, did we, Yura?”

“I hate you so much.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” she dismisses and turns to address the family. “Yura met someone at the pool today!”

The table erupts in various noises, Yuri’s screeches of indignation among them, and he suddenly finds himself bombarded with questions. He leaps up from his seat, grabbing a couple rolls from the table, and levels them all with his finest glare, aged for 19 years and ready to serve on ice.

“I don’t need this. We just talked. I’m going to my room. Goodnight.”

He stomps away from the dining room, and munches on the (admittedly delicious) bread as he slowly works his way back to his room. Upon his arrival, he goes to slip his key into the lock, but a hand presses to the wall next to his head, distracting him into dropping the card, which (conveniently enough) slides right under the door and out of reach.

“Whoops,” mutters an incredibly unworried voice from just behind him, and he spins, coming face to face with Otabek. Who’s just standing there. Smiling at him. In a button-down shirt and skinny jeans with his hair slicked back. Yuri imagines that if he were to have wet dreams about anyone specific, they’d be of _this_ anyone specific in _this_ outfit specific.

However, Yuri is a mule who is physically incapable of showing weakness, so he frowns and says, “Now I can’t get into my room. Thanks.”

Otabek bends his elbow to lean in, “I don’t think you mind.”

He doesn’t. He really doesn’t. He super doesn’t. He honestly wouldn’t mind if Otabek hid all of his room keys for the rest of his life if it meant getting trapped next to his (incredibly toned) arm in any number of hallways forever and ever amen.

“I don’t,” he admits and Otabek cracks another smile. Yuri’s knees both lock up and go weak, and it results in a weird buzzing sensation just below his kneecaps that he’d really like to stop any moment now.

Otabek pulls his hand off the wall and tucks Yuri’s hair behind his ear.

“I saw you leaving dinner. I might have followed you a little bit. Thought you might want some company.”

Okay, this dude full-body blushed when Yuri called him professor and now he’s some unearthly Casanova? That’s not fair. It’s not. What it _is_ though, is incredibly interesting. Maybe even attractive. No, it’s definitely attractive. Yuri doesn’t know why he lies to himself so often.

“Well,” he hears himself answering (thank god some part of his brain is still spinning gears), “it’s not like I can get into my room, so why not?”

“I mean, I can get you in your room if you want,” Otabek’s eyes shimmer dangerously. “but I know a couple places we can go that you might like better.”

Yuri knows a low-key offer when he gets one. The thing is, though, Yuri is one-hundred-percent not down with boning a dude he just met in a room he still has to share with Mila for another 11 days because she would _absolutely_ know and she would _absolutely_ give him the most shit possible. Also, he actually really likes this guy, so ya know. Maybe he’ll take it easy.

Yuri grabs Otabek’s wrist, “Show me these places.”

 

+++

 

So back when Otabek took a hard left turn into Insanity Central, he thought maybe he’d just parked in the lot. He didn’t think he’d actually get out, purchase a one-way ticket, and leave his whole life behind. But here he is, acting like some sort of smooth asshole and dragging Yuri around to parts of the ship that he definitely should not be dragging him to.

If he’s gonna commit, he might as well go all the way, he guesses.

This is the thought that spurs him up on top of one of the lifeboat canopies, holding his hand out so Yuri can hop up and lay next to him in some weird, Titanic-esque vehicle scene. Only, minus the car. And the sex. And the whole…sinking thing. Okay, so maybe not like that at all. But still. Two people. Forbidden transportation. Sneaking around. Whatever.

The point is, Otabek is really determined to apparently ruin his whole life and it is a wild thing to put himself through. They lay next to each other, Otabek having an extended out of body experience, and talk about whatever comes up. They look at the stars, they sneak looks at each other, they do that really clichéd thing where they lay their hands down next to each other and sneak their pinkies over. It’s all very romantic. Until the horn sounds and they realize the time. Yuri has a family to spend time with and Otabek has a shift to get to the next day (Yuri can never know this).

After that, it’s jumping down and running through the ship until they stop in front of Yuri’s door. Otabek repeats the same suave bullshit from before (he honestly doesn’t know where he’s getting all these moves from, but he’d really like to find out), only this time, Yuri hooks a finger through his belt loop and tugs him forward to drop a kiss to his cheek.

“Thanks for tonight, even though you locked me out of my own room like a fuckin’ creep.”

Otabek feels slightly ashamed, but maybe not as much as he probably should, “Any time.”

Yuri pounds on the door and shouts, “Baba, I’m back! Let me in!”

There’s shuffling inside the room and just as the handle turns, Yuri looks back, “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” Otabek says. “Yeah.”

 

+++

 

Yuri does not see him later.

He tries not to be too upset as he accompanies his family on their first shore stop of the trip. Really, he has a lot of fun with them, laughing and shopping and visiting the beach. He rides a horse on the sand with Mila like a goddamn romance novel cover, and they make sure to take the very best photos of them posing, all windswept and doe-eyed.

After that, they all board the ship and spend another two days at sea until their next destination.

He still doesn’t see Otabek.

At the new port stop, they go rock climbing and zip-lining through caves packed with waterfalls. Yuri gets to feed sea turtles, and he absolutely **does not cry** when they all gather around him and gently run against his legs. He definitely doesn’t have to borrow the handkerchief that his cousin Georgi always carries because he’s the most extra person known to man. He doesn’t, okay?

He still doesn’t see Otabek.

They get back on the ship and they spend _another_ two days at sea, visiting the shows and eating their way through every dining room on board. Yuri finds out there are surfing lessons on the actual ship and spends a solid afternoon falling on his ass then face. Mila has to help him ice a bruise he manages to collect on his back.

He still doesn’t see Otabek.

And it’s fine.

Seriously.

It’s. Fine.

He’d only known the guy for, what, a day? And he was a little weird anyway. Like, yeah okay, he was super hot, and incredibly funny, and seriously gorgeous, and his laugh could tear down mountains, and his voice could convince the devil to do his bidding, and he seemed really into Yuri, but whatever. He was kinda weird, right? A little cryptic? A little panicky at weird moments? Yes. Yes, that’s it.

So, see, it’s _fine_.

Their third shore stop is known as children’s day. All the characters from the ship get off with them and perform shows on a private island the boat stops at. There are jungle gyms, shops just for kids, arts and crafts, and Adventures™. Yuri is a little concerned about what, exactly, Adventures™ means, but he really wants to find out. He’s maybe a little more than put-out when he finds it just means a short hike on a cleared path through the woods.

On the evening of their island visit, there’s a huge beach blowout where all the kids and their families are invited to sing and dance with the characters in the sand. Their family arrives with a very excited and _very_ squirmy Natalia in tow, and, just as Murphy’s Law could have helped Yuri predict, a very terrible sequence of events takes place.

 

+++

 

Two things immediately occur to Otabek the moment Yuri’s door closes in his face:

  1. He is now Extremely Fucked



And

  1. He has to tell Yuri the truth.



As soon as he realizes point number 2, he amends to add a third point:

  1. He absolutely, positively **cannot** tell Yuri the truth.



He can’t stand the thought of Yuri finding out that he’s actually just as much of a creep as he pegged him for when they first met. This poses a problem, as Otabek desperately wants to keep seeing Yuri. He’s only got so much time with him on the ship, but the more time they spend together, the closer Yuri gets to finding out the truth, and NOPE. NO THANKS.

So Otabek does the only thing he knows how to do: hide.

Well, that and call JJ.

_“Otabek, you grade-a DUMBASS.I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO ON THAT FURRY CRUISE!”_

“Jean, I told you it’s not a furry cruise, would you please stop.”

_“You know you have to tell him, right? If you wanna get his number and smooch him again, you gotta tell him.”_

“I can’t, Jean! I’ve never fucked up this bad. What the fuck was I even thinking? Who does something like this?”

 _“Oh, you mean some wild Parent-Trap-Ass bullshit? Because you absolutely would, Becks. Have you ever_ met _you? You do dumb shit and spout smooth lines almost every day. And somehow, everyone just falls for it! So you’ll be fine. But just tell him bro. You’re running out of time.”_

“Yeah,” Otabek sighs into the phone. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll tell him.”

Otabek does not tell him.

Otabek spends his time hiding and running around the ship pointedly _not_ telling Yuri the truth.

He spends another two ocean days working his character shifts and being overrun by under-parented children. He glimpses Yuri out on the pool deck a couple times throughout his days.

Otabek still doesn’t tell him.

He spends the first shore day in the ship’s employee gym, working out his frustration with himself and the situation he’s put himself in. By the time he’s done and heading back to his quarters, he sees Yuri walking back to his room, smiling and laughing with his cousin, so he dashes around the corner and hides.

Otabek still doesn’t tell him.

He spends the next two days avoiding all parts of the ship that could possibly contain blond spitfires with legs for days, and then he spends the next shore day doing the same. One of the ocean days between stops, Yuri and Mila bring Natalia back to the character show. It throws Otabek off his game, and if anyone notices that he’s half a beat behind in choreography, they don’t say anything.

Otabek still doesn’t tell him.

He spends the next two ocean days going back through everything he’s ever done wrong in his life and sending up apologies to the universe. He grits his teeth while kids climb up his back and choke him on the front of his costume, accepting it as his divine punishment. He gets ready for children’s day in the locker room, staring into the middle distance and wondering if anyone would miss him if he just sorta…leapt into the ocean.

That would solve nothing, really, and this issue is honestly not that big. He’s known Yuri for an actual day. He shouldn’t feel so obligated. He should just chalk this up as another mistake in a string of life lessons and move on.

The earth is the earth and her gods are vengeful beasts.

That night at the beach blowout, the gods dole out their judgment. It is cruel. It is warranted.

All the characters have gathered on the beach, the tiki torches have been lit, the music is playing, the food is hot, and Otabek hears a noise. It’s not just a noise. It’s a screech, an unearthly squawk that shakes him to the core and foreshadows an end to his frazzled peace.

“Mister beeeaaarrrr!”

A furious whirlwind of copper hair and tiny hands launches into his side, knocking him to the ground and popping his mask clean off. He watches it roll away through the sand until he hears a growl and sees two elegant hands grip his collar and tug him upright.

“Is this why you’ve been hiding?”

He looks up into Yuri’s eyes full of fire and brimstone, and for the first time in his life, Otabek truly considers his mortality. If he wants to keep it, he realizes, he has to finally tell the truth.

“Yeah.”

Yuri growls again, tugging Otabek to his feet. He stomps over to the mask, stomps back, and jams it on Otabek’s head. He pulls Otabek forward by his costume’s suspenders and looks him square in the eye through the mesh.

“When we get back on that ship, you’re coming to find me at my room.”

Otabek’s already broken at least fifteen employee rules and definitely some of his own. Employees aren’t supposed to talk when they’re in costume. He swallows hard.

“I’m coming to find you.”

 

+++

 

Otabek comes to find him.

He looks sheepish and afraid. He’s clutching flowers. He smells nice.

Yuri is pleased.

“Take me somewhere quiet.”

Otabek nods, takes Yuri by the hand, and leads the way. They end up in a locker room somewhere in the middle of the ship. Otabek locks the door behind them and gestures to one of the benches in the middle of the room.

“This is a character locker room. Kid’s shows are done for the night, so we won’t be bothered.”

Yuri sits and crosses his arms. He tries to be rational. Really, he does. They spent a day together. They don’t really know each other. They’ll never see each other again. But Yuri felt a real connection with this guy. Their interactions were easy and comfortable. There’s obvious attraction there. Being ignored by anyone for any reason still hurts. He crosses his legs for good measure. He stares Otabek down until the weight of his glare forces him to sit, too.

“Explain.”

“Well I,” Otabek begins, reaching back to scratch at his neck, “I sort of…work…here.”

“Managed to suss that one out for myself, thanks.”

Otabek flinches at his tone and admits, “Yeah, I deserved that.”

Yuri waves his hand for him to continue, so he does, “Look, I saw you the first day you came on board. I was dressed up, but I saw you. I wanted to talk to you then, but that’s weird, right? So I pretended to be a passenger for a while, maybe followed you around a little bit until I could work up the balls to talk to you. But then, that got sorta wild on me. I broke SO MANY rules, I’m literally breaking three right now, and then when I realized I was actually really into you I kind of panicked a little bit and here we are.”

“Here we are,” Yuri repeats. Confusion is setting in heavy in his mind and this whole thing is just so ridiculous. “Okay, I just have one question: What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Otabek flinches again, but Yuri presses on, “You could have just walked up to me, said you worked here, you wanted to talk to me, and BOOM no problems. You realize that, right?”

“Well, I mean, in retrospect that might have been a little simpler.”

“A LITTLE SIMP-oh my god. Oh my god. What did I do to deserve this?” Yuri asks himself, gazing into the middle distance, “I just wanted to have a nice vacation, you know? That’s all. Just a nice vacation before I go to school. It could have been so nice. It could have been so easy.”

“I’m sorry,” Otabek mumbles. “I ruined things for you.”

Yuri’s focus goes laser-sharp once more and he aims it back up at Otabek’s face, “Don’t give yourself so much credit. I still had a great time and there’s four days left.”

Otabek looks confused.

Yuri sighs, “Look, we don’t owe each other anything, right? We’re literally just here for a summer shindig, right? We won’t see each other again, and there’s literally no point in stressing over this, right?”

The clouds clear from Otabek’s face as he nods at each point and confirms, “Right.”

“So,” Yuri saunters over, “improve my last four days.”

Otabek looks up at him and a slow smile creeps over his face. His eyes darken and he reaches out, taking Yuri by the hips.

“Come with me.”

 

+++

 

The first week of the semester always sucks. Everyone is trying to get back into the swing of things, the first few days of classes are honestly bullshit, and everyone just wants to get well and truly back into their flow. Because of this, the first week of the semester always has the best parties.

First week parties are the ultimate parties to forget your summer, look forward to your fall, and scope out what you’ll be doing for the rest of the year. Upon his arrival back home, JJ forced Otabek to recount his entire painful summer, right up until the very juicy bits at the end. Those pieces Otabek kept for himself. He didn’t feel right sharing them, anyway. The problem was Otabek couldn’t keep the rest for himself. In fact, he couldn’t shut up about it. Unfortunately, this meant JJ had to listen and after two very whiny weeks, he was over it.

Which is the reason Otabek finds himself dressed relatively nicely and standing in the living room of some house on frat row (he really doesn’t remember which house), nursing a beer and listening to JJ prattle on and on about the hot distractions they’re gonna find tonight.

Not an hour passes by when a girl walks up to the two of them to get JJ’s attention. Her name is Isabella, she’s very pretty and very nice, and it turns out she went to their high school, but was a class year behind, so they never met. JJ takes off with her, throwing a wink back and Otabek is finally, blessedly alone.

He starts to head for the door when he sees a bright flash of blond heading up the stairs. There’s no way on earth (he’s made peace with her vengeful spirits at this point) it could possibly belong to who he thinks, but he just can’t resist following.

He tracks up the staircase and arrives in the hall, staring down the barrel of a very particular larkspur gaze that he knew he’d never forget. He slowly approaches Yuri, who actually looks pretty nervous.

“Look,” he starts, ” we don’t owe each other anything, right?”

Yuri nods, “Right.”

“We’re literally just here to get our educations, right?”

Yuri nods again, “Right.”

“We’re definitely going to see each other again, and there’s literally no point in stressing over this, right?”

Yuri reaches out to smooth his hands over Otabek’s collar and nods again, “Right.”

“So,” Otabek opens the bedroom door they’re standing next to, “improve my last four years.”

Yuri smiles and tugs him inside.

“Come with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> the drink is called a haywire, and it consists of 2 shots of tequila mixed with 6 oz. of lime juice
> 
> as always, you are welcome to come yell at me on [tumblr](http://tootsonnewts.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/these_mortals).
> 
> thank you so much for reading, have a lovely day!


End file.
